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- Date:
- Monday , January 03, 2011
- Author:
- Morry Teitelman
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Share:
MSI P67A-GD65 LGA1155 Chipset Motherboard Review
Among MSI's initial Intel P67 offerings is the P67A-GD65. MSI's last "GD65" series board was a terrific value for those of use that knew about it. This new P67 motherboard follows in its footsteps offering a solid mix of style, features, and performance, sure to put it on the short list.
Introduction
MSI has a long track record of delivering high performance products and innovative designs in the highly competitive pc gaming and enthusiast space. The company takes an evolutionary type approach to product design, with each new generation of products building on the performance wins of the previous designs both in terms of hardware and software driver technologies. With the release of its Intel P67 based line of products, this evolution tactic seems to have paid off well.
The MSI P67A-GD65 motherboard is designed with the Intel P67 chipset. The chipset allows the board to offer support for the following technologies: the Intel LGA1155 Core i3, i5, and i7 processor lines; DDR3 memory operating in Dual Channel memory mode up to 1333MHz officially; and either NVIDIA SLI or ATI CrossFireX graphics mode using matched video cards.
MSI chose to integrate the following device list in to the P67A-GF65's design: 4 SATA II 3Gb/s ports and 2 SATA III 6Gb/s ports (RAID 0, 1, 0+1 and 5 capable) on the Intel P67 controller; 2 SATA III 6Gb/s ports (RAID 0 and 1capable) on the Marvel SE9128 controller; 2 e-SATA 3Gb/s ports on the JMicron JMB362 controller; 10 USB 2.0 capable ports (8 in rear panel, and 1 onboard header supporting 2 ports each); 4 USB 3.0 capable ports (2 in rear panel, and 1 onboard header supporting 2 ports each); 2 IEEE 1394 ports (1 in rear panel, and 1 onboard header supporting 1 port each); 1 Realtek GigE Ethernet port in the rear panel; Realtek 8-channel HD audio codec with integrated S/PDIF optical and RCA component output ports; onboard power, system reset, and OC Genie buttons; and a PS/2 keyboard / mouse port in the rear panel.
Main Specifications Overview:
Detailed Mainboard Specification List:
Packaging
MSI chose to package the P67A-GF65 in a box with a straight forward artistic design, simply pointing out the technological support and design strengths of the board on a white reflective background. MSI includes the following accessories in with the board itself: locking connector SATA drive cables and power cables; a 2-way NVIDIA SLI connector; a rear panel bracket containing USB 3.0 ports; extension plugs for the USB and front panel headers; voltage check point cables; and the normal complement of manuals and drivers discs. The header extension plugs allow for an easy interface for connecting in to the motherboard headers. You simply plug in the appropriate connector cables in to the header block, and then plug the block in to the appropriate motherboard header. It makes for a much easier install for those typically hard to reach header areas. The voltage check point cables allow for a female plug in which to connect a volt-meter cable in order to measure voltage readings from the onboard voltage points.
Board Layout
The P67A-GD65 features an clean design, with adequate space provided around all the normally tight areas on a feature rich board such as this. MSI chose to passively cool the CPU power circuitry and the chipset as well. The board revision is located to the right of the primary PCI-Express x16 slot, with a 2.0 version used in testing. The serial is not found on the board's surface, but rather on a white sticker on the outside of the box. For the board's power regulation needs, MSI designed the P67A-GD65 using high quality polymer solid-electrolyte capacitors and Ferrite core chokes.
MSI did a masterful job with the layout of the CPU socket area, with adequate space provided for the use of even the larger CPU coolers. The components used in close proximity to the socket itself are of a low profile type, in order to better alleviate any space contention issues. The CPU cooler is held in place using the standard LGA1156 style design, allowing for use of existing LGA1156 style coolers with the board. To the upper left of the socket is the SYSFAN1 header, while the 8 pin ATX12V power connector is to the upper right of the socket. The CPUFAN header is to the lower right of the CPU socket, just above the memory slots.
The integrated DDR3 memory slots are located directly below the CPU socket, arranged in a bi-colored array. Dual channel memory mode activates with like modules seated in same colored slots, with the blue colored slots being the primary set. To the lower left of the memory slots is the SYSFAN2 header, with the 24 pin ATX power connector, SYSFAN3 and SYSFAN4 headers, and the Voltage Check Point block located directly beneath the memory slots. The Voltage Check Point block gives easy access to check specific board voltages using a multi-meter.
The Intel P67 chipset is located below the primary and secondary PCI-Express x16 slots, cooled by a passive low profile heat sink. The onboard SATA ports are directly below the chipset, with the black ports being the SATA II 3Gb/s ports, and the white ports being the SATA III 6Gb/s ports. The white ports to the lower right of the chipset are controlled by the chipset integrated controller, while the white ports to the lower left of the chipset are controlled by the Marvell SE9128 controller. To the left of the SATA ports are the dual front panel headers and the OC Genie, Reset and Power buttons. The OC Genie button activates the board’s dynamic overclocking mechanism. To the left of the chipset are the chassis intrusion header, the serial port header, the Trust Module device header, the USB 2.0 port header, and the IEEE 1394 device port header. The header labeled JSPI1 is used by MSI for internal debugging and testing purposes.
The P67A-GD65 contains a total of 7 ports: 2 PCI-Express x16 slots, 3 PCI-Express x1 slots, and 2 PCI slots. The USB 3.0 device port header, the S/PDIF output header, the CD_IN header, and the front panel audio header are located along the outer edge of PCI slot 2.
MSI chose to integrate the following ports/devices in to the P67A-GD65's rear panel assembly: a PS/2 keyboard/mouse port; 8 USB 2.0 ports; 2 USB 3.0 ports (blue colored USB style ports); 1 IEEE 1394 port; 1 Realtek GigE Ethernet port; 2 e-SATA 3Gb/s ports; CMOS reset button; and 6 analogue and S/PDIF optical and RCA component audio output port.
MSI Control Center II
For testing the P67A-GD65 board, MSI provided us with their Control Center II application. Similar in nature to their original Control Center application, Control Center II allows for Windows based board monitoring and overclocking.
The application itself opens to the Overclocking page when first opened. This page can also be accessed by clicking on the Overclocking tab and selecting the Overclocking sub-tab. The Overclocking page itself is divided in to several sections: Mainboard, CPU, Memory, and Overclock. The Mainboard, CPU, and Memory sections display real-time settings for specific components that fall in to the section's category. The Overclock section allows for real-time configuration of most of the device speed and voltage settings available from within the BIOS. You also have the option of creating and using custom profiles through the Save and Load buttons, located in the screen’s lower right corner.
The Control Center II window displays in minimized mode when the minimize button, located in the upper right corner of the window, is clicked. In this operational mode, only the CPU core speed displays.
The More button located within the Mainboard section opens an information box containing detailed board device and device driver information, including the board model, chipset, and BIOS version.
The CPU section contains 2 buttons, CPU Monitor and More. The CPU Monitor button opens the CPU Monitor window, which shows detailed CPU information on a per core basis including current clock speed, ratio, and temperature. In addition, the ratio settings can be adjusted on a per core basis from this window. The More button spawns an information box with information on the CPU itself, including CPU model and revision, supported technologies, ratio setting, processor speed, base clock setting, and cache size information.
The Memory section also contains 2 buttons, DRAM Timing and More. The DRAM Timing button opens the DRAM Timings page, from where you can configure memory timing settings on a per channel basis. The More button opens a Memory information window, displaying manufacturer, part number, speed, and SPD information for the module seated in the selected memory slot.
The OC Genie page, accessed by clicking on the Overclocking tab and selecting the OC Genie sub-tab, displays information on the operation of the OC Genie dynamic overclocking mechanism as well as its current operational state.
The Green Power page, accessed by clicking on the Green Power tab and selecting the Green Power sub-tab, displays real-time information on monitored system voltages and temperatures. In addition, you have the option for direct control of subsystem power phase usage and fan speeds, with the ability to load and save user profiles.
The LED / Temp. page, accessed by clicking on the Green Power tab and selecting the LED / TEMP. sub-tab, shows the location of all status LEDs on the board, providing the capability to enable or disable each LED block individually.